The Return of Abbey Wiezen

Last year, for my company Christmas Party, I brewed Randy Mosher's Abbey Wiezen (recipe here). It was a good beer, but seemed a bit. . .small.

So I tweaked the recipe. I bumped the OG up to around 1.070, and, since I haven't tasted the latest barley wine to see how it worked, I added a pound and a half of flaked rice to add fermentables but not too much flavor. This may be an experiment that is doomed to never be repeated, but macht's nicht™, baby!

Abbey Wiezen 2

Belgian Specialty Ale

 

Type: All Grain	Date: 4/4/2009
Batch Size: 4.00 gal	Brewer: Jeff Holt
Boil Size: 7.00 gal	Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 90 min	Equipment: Brew Pot (15 Gal) and Igloo/Gott Cooler (10 Gal)
Taste Rating(out of 50): 35.0	Brewhouse Efficiency: 60.00
Taste Notes:
Ingredients
Amount Item Type % or IBU 1.00 lb Rice Hulls (0.0 SRM) Adjunct 4.88 % 9.00 lb Wheat Malt, Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 43.90 % 8.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 39.02 % 1.50 lb Rice, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 7.32 % 1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 4.88 % 2.50 oz Hallertauer Hersbrucker [2.40 %] (60 min) Hops 20.4 IBU 0.50 oz Hallertauer Hersbrucker [2.40 %] (15 min) Hops 2.0 IBU 1 Pkgs Abbey Ale (White Labs #WLP530) Yeast-Ale
Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.106 SG	Measured Original Gravity: 1.068 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.024 SG	Measured Final Gravity: 1.005 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 10.81 %	Actual Alcohol by Vol: 8.23 %
Bitterness: 22.5 IBU	Calories: 301 cal/pint
Est Color: 9.1 SRM	Color: Color
Mash Profile
Mash Name: Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge	Total Grain Weight: 20.50 lb
Sparge Water: 3.85 gal	Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F	TunTemperature: 72.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE	Mash PH: 5.4 PH
Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge Step Time Name Description Step Temp 75 min Mash In Add 25.63 qt of water at 161.4 F 150.0 F
Mash Notes: Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).
Carbonation and Storage
Carbonation Type: Kegged (Forced CO2)	Volumes of CO2: 2.4
Pressure/Weight: 21.6 PSI	Carbonation Used: -
Keg/Bottling Temperature: 60.0 F	Age for: 28.0 days
Storage Temperature: 52.0 F
Notes
Last week, I emptied my last keg, except for an aging barleywine. Ever run out of beer when you know you are too drunk to drive? I am surprised you didn't hear the heart-rending scream where you live. The next day I ordered ingredients for Randy Mosher's Abbey Wiezen (from Radical Brewing), and ingredients for a second batch of Tasty APA. The ingredients arrived on Friday, and I looked forward to a rare double header brew weekend. Being a firm believer in the Six P's (Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance - I may call my next Tasty clone "P to the Sixth Pale Ale"), I sorted the ingredients and made a yeast starter for the Abbey Wiezen, ground the coriander, and gathered an ounce of Tropical Green Tea (the last two are my contributions to the recipe), put them in little clear bowls with lids, and put a slip of paper inside with the addition times (60, 15, and 0). I filled my kettle from the tap so the chlorine the city adds could waft away into the atmosphere, and I brought my Denny Conn-style mash tun inside to fill with grains so I wouldn't have to do those complicated strike water calculations in the morning. Then I planned for after the brew day: clean some kegs, keg a kolsch and sort the Tasty Hops for the Sunday brew day. I went to bed and slept the sleep of the well prepared. I woke up at seven this morning, made Jittery Joe's Wake and Bake coffee, made sure the iPod was charged and took the Denny Conn-like mash tun out and set it on a knee-high plastic table that I have been using for about a year. Then I tried to start the fire. Ninkasi began to shit upon me. The stick lighter I bought last month started to go out, with a full resevoir of fluid. As propane spewed into the atmosphere I clicked and clicked and clicked and clicked to no avail. So I shut off the propane, went inside to grab some kitchen matches ran back outside to start again. The first few matches wouldn't strike, and the one that did burned my fingers. I must pause here to say that I have worked in retail sales most of my life, and I can deal with an irate customer without swearing. But I do frustrate easily and can become furious over the littlest thing that doesn't go the way I expect. As I hurled the box of matches across the back yard with George Carlin's famous Seven Words flying from my lips, with an additional "rat fuck bastard," I thought about giving up brewing and taking up knitting. I got the fire going, and doughed in. I got within two degrees of my mash temperature, and I was happy. Fifteen minutes before the end of the mash, I fired up burner again to heat my sparge water to 168 F. As I began transferring the sparge water into a bucket to free up the kettle for the wort, I noticed that the birds were singing, and a cool breeze was blowing. Life was good. In my head, I was running through the next steps: "Drain the mash tun, add four more gallons of sparge water and let it sit ten minutes. . ." That was when Ninkasi unleashed her full fury on me. I heard a crash. I turned around. My mash tun lay on the patio, with an ankle high pile of grains before it, and a pool of precious wort puddling around both items. One of the legs of the plastic table had buckled. I didn't swear. I couldn't. There was no word that could describe the way I was feeling. I began to wonder what time the yarn store closed. I grabbed a shovel and scooped up the grains and flung them over my shoulder onto the lawn. Then I hosed off the patio. At that point I could have asked myself, "Just how hard is it to make a Jayne hat?" But I remembered the starter perking away on the fridge, and knew that I had to brew. So I filled up the kettle for the chlorine thing, and jumped in the car and headed for Austin Homebrew Supply--83 miles away. It was 11 am. The traffic in Austin was horrible, even for a Saturday. I get to the shop and there are no parking spaces out front, but there is one at the back of the building. The place is packed. I have never seen that many people in the store buying ingredients. Nice to know the economy isn't hurting my soon-to-be former hobby. I get to the front of the line eventually, and my order is filled. I race back home, and by 3 pm, I am heating my strike water. At 6 I have sparged and have the kettle on the burner to start the boil. Ninkasi wasn't done with me. It took almost an hour before I could get a boil. By the time I cool and pitch the yeast it's 8:30 pm, and I am beat. I clean my tubing, and the counterflow chiller, and fill the kettle with water. I decide that brewing the Tasty clone can wait til Monday. On Sunday I will clean the kegs I emptied, the kettle and keg the Kolsch. Then, and only then, will I prep for the Monday brew day. Ninkasi willing.
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